Systematic Theology

Immutability

God is constant and unchangeable in his being, decree, and works, the same eternity to eternity James 1:17 (no variation or shadow due to change)

Infinity

God is free from creaturely limitation with respect to time and space Eternity (unchanging duration) o Ps. 90 (everlasting to everlasting) Immensity (transcendent over space) o 1 Kings 8:27 (highest heaven cannot contain You...) Omnipresence (repletively present) o Ps. 139:7ff (where shall I flee?)

Independence/Aseity

God is self-sufficient in His being, decrees, and works; existence and life free, distinct, independent Acts 17:25 (not served as if He needed anything...)

Unity

Oneness - God is absolutely, numerically one o Deut. 6:4 (LORD is One) Simplicity and Singularity God is one, attributes are identical with His being

Nominalism

Universals are not objects or entities They exist neither as particulars nor in another realm

Conceptualism

Universals can be externally real concepts not separable from the particulars in which they are found (they exist as concepts) Divine attributes exist in God and can only be abstracted from God

Realism

Universals exist separately Can say the universals exist in the mind of God

Homoousios

"Same substance"; Nicene Creed's language that Christ and the Father are the same substance

The Quest for the Historical Jesus. The Old Quest

(18th century - 1919) a) Interested in the Jesus that could be discovered through historical science and its presuppositions. b) Reimarus: the disciples invented the resurrection and changed the (formerly political) message. c) Strauss: denied the reality, we must demythologize to get at the idea, the heavenly meaning. d) Liberalism/Harnack: Jesus was a wise and moral teacher, taught love and justice.

The Quest for the Historical Jesus. The No Quest of Neo-orthodoxy

(1919-1954) a) History is not the basis of our faith. b) Historical events are irrelevant and insignificant. c) What matters? The confession and faith of those impacted by the (unknowable) events.

The Quest for the Historical Jesus. The New Quest of the Historical Jesus

(1954-1970's) a) Bultmann's students emphasized connection between what Jesus did and the faith.

The Quest for the Historical Jesus. The 3rd Renewed Quest for the Historical Jesus

(1970's onward) a) Includes Jesus Seminar, NT Wright; sees Jesus' similarity to Judaism and the early church. b) Notice: history is antithetical, separated, the ground of, or the handmaiden to the truth regarding Christ (us).

Christ's Active Obedience

(2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 2:5ff) All that Christ did to observe the law on behalf of sinners, as condition for obtaining eternal life

General Revelation

(BC Art. 2) 1) God's revelation in creation, manifest universally and continually a) Renders man inexcusable. b) Psalm 19 (the heavens declare the glory of God...) c) Romans 1 (what can be known about God is plain to them...)

Special Revelation

(BC Art. 2) 1) The mainly verbal revelation of God and His saving purpose in Jesus Christ preserved for us in the canon of the OT and NT. a) Supplements general revelation, focuses on knowledge of redemption in Jesus Christ, recipients cannot be as precisely defined as with general revelation. b) Hebrews 1:1ff (at many times and in many ways God spoke...)

Organic Inspiration

(BC Art. 3) The Holy Spirit used men as living, active organisms and not as mere machines. HS worked in and through men, produced through human authors who were inspired organically by the HS. Spirit's activity is to be seen comprehensively and organically (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Peter 1:19-21)

Infallibility

(BC Art. 3-7) 1) Plenary and verbal inspiration taken together claim the 'infallibility' of Scripture 2) Expresses three things: a) Scripture is non-deceiving b) It is non-failing c) It is inerrant 3) These express the trustworthiness of Scripture a) Matt. 5:18 (not a jot/tittle will pass away) b) John 10:35 (Scripture cannot be broken) Scripture can not err.

Autopistic Character of Scripture

(BC Art. 5; WCF I.VII) The ground or basis for the recognition of the canon is the evidence of Scripture itself. (2 Peter 3:16 - Paul's writing Scripture)

Total Depravity

(CD 3/4.1-4; LD 2,3; BC Art. 14) 1) Corruption extends to every part of our nature, there is no spiritual good a) Jer. 17:9 (heart deceitful above all things) b) Rom. 1:17 (suppress the truth) 2) Total does not mean absolute, but refers to the whole of our nature. 3) It implies that the inherent corruption extends to every part of human nature, to all faculties. 4) There is no spiritual good, that is, good in relation to God, in the sinner at all, but only perversion

Christ's Passive Obedience

(Gal. 4:4; Phil. 2:5ff) All that Christ suffered in paying the penalty of sin and discharging the debt of His people

The Threefold Office of Believer

(LD 12) 1) Prophet: speak His word and confess His name 2) Priest: living sacrifice of thanks 3) King: fight against sin/devil, rule eternally with Him 4) RCC: basically identifies the offices of the church with that of Christ

Extra-Calvinisticum

(LD 18) 1) Issue is sort of a postscript to the debate about the presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper 2) Debate arises in connection with the emphasis of Calvin and the Reformed that: a) Though the eternal Son was in the incarnation wholly united to that human nature he assumed and now knows no other existence than in union with it, He is not bound in His deity to it b) The deity of Jesus Christ is "beyond the bounds of the humanity he has taken on" c) The Son of God, who is wholly this man is also wholly God and therefore omnipotent and omnipresent d) This position goes back to Athanasius and others 3) Lutheran misnomer for "extra humanum" 4) Lutherans reject because they allege we divide or separate the natures, and don't coincide with their view of "communicatio" in which the human nature by virtue of the union of person is able to "fill the whole earth."

Penal Substitutionary Atonement

(LD 5) The atonement is that great work of our Lord Jesus Christ, God incarnate, by means of his perfect life, sacrificial suffering and death, and his powerful resurrection, whereby he makes perfect satisfaction to God for our sin and guilt, propitiates the wrath of God against us, wins a decisive victory over sin, death and the devil, liberates and frees us from the bondage of sin and the devil, and restores us to covenantal life in eternal fellowship with the living, triune God.

Middle Knowledge

(Molina 16th c.) 1) Underlying this theory is a synergistic theory of salvation with a libertarian notion of free will 2) Divine knowledge between God's necessary and free knowledge; God's knowledge of future contingent events dependent on the free act of the creature as foreseen by special intuition 3) Thus, God has a conditioned or consequent foreknowledge of future contingents 4) Critique: Necessary and free knowledge of God encompasses all things, M.K. renders human actions independent of divine providence, forfeits God's dominion, and God becomes reactive and dependent upon creatures & creature independent of God

Limited Atonement

(Romans 8:29ff; C/D II; BC 16,20) 1) The atonement includes effective application (it accomplishes salvation, not just makes it available) 2) The atonement was made for the elect

Original Sin

(Sinful from conception on) has two elements (cf. HC 7, BCF 14) Guilt: a forensic aspect of sin which makes people liable to just punishment for it Pollution: a moral aspect of sin which means people are sinful creatures by birth

Covenant of Works/Creation/Favor

(WCF 7) 1) The bond graciously and sovereignly established with Adam a) Grace is seen in that covenant was made 2) Promising life for obedience and death for disobedience 3) Made with Adam as our covenant head/representative, and therefore with all men in him 4) We know it was a covenant: all aspects of covenant were there a) Romans 5 (Christ-Adam comparison) b) Hos. 6:7 (like Adam they transgressed the covenant) 5) Two parties, condition(s), and penalty (implicit promised blessing) 6) God's covenant with humans is a single covenant relationship with a twofold or double character 7) Ex pacto merit: blessing bestowed upon human works is based on the covenant arrangement itself (i.e. graciously rewarded) ! Note the parties, promise, condition, penalty, and sacrament • The HC acknowledges that perfect obedience is required to gain eternal life • "Righteousness which can pass God's scrutiny must be entirely perfect and in every way measure up to the divine law" (HC 62) • Also note how the HC and BCF talk about Jesus' merits and holy works that arecredited to our account by faith

Creation ex nihilo

1) Active Creation: creating ex nihilo 2) Passive Creation: coming to be 3) First Creation: Gen.1:1-2 where God drew out of nothing the unformed matter 4) Second Creation: God produced individual beings by imparting form and life to the materia prima 5) A free act of God resting solely on the goodness of the divine will

Perfections of Scripture

1) Authority: inspired; requires reverent obedience a) 1 Thess. 2:13 (receive the word as it is, the word of God) b) BC Art. 7; WCF I.IV,X 2) Necessity: to make us wise a) 2 Tim. 3:15 (able to make you wise for salvation) b) BC Art. 2; WCF I.VI 3) Sufficiency: adequate to regulate, found and confirm a) 2 Tim. 3:17 (the man of God may be competent, equipped...) b) BC Art. 7; WCF I.VI 4) Perspicuity/Clarity: rightly able to be divided and interpreted without a priestly intermediary a) Ps. 199:105 (Your word is a lamp...) b) WCF I.VII

Regnum Gratiae

1) Christ's rule over the Church and His kingdom 2) It is grounded in the work of redemption 3) It is a spiritual kingdom 4) It is both present and future 5) It is closely related to the Church, though not identical to it a) It's field of operation is wider than the church since it aims at the control of life in all its manifestations b) The visible Church is the most important, divinely instituted, external organization of the kingdom c) The church is also the God-given means par excellence for the extension of the kingdom of God on earth

Human Freedom, God's Decree & Divine Foreknowledge

1) Compatibalism: no logical inconsistency between free will and determinism. Acts 2:23 "Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death." (Concursive Providence) 2) Incompatibalism: free will and determinism cannot logically cohere with one another 3) Determinism: every event, including man's choice, has a cause a) Hard: given determinism, human freedom is illusory b) Soft: human freedom is compatible with determinism 4) Indeterminism: determinism is false, not every event caused, usually goes with idea of libertarian freedom 5) Compatibalist idea of human freedom is rational spontaneity, man is free when he can act/make choices according to prevailing desires a) An act is free if: It is not caused by compulsion The immediate cause is a state of affairs internal to the agent The situation is one in which it was in the agent's power to have acted differently if he had wanted to

Infra/Supra debate

1) Concerns the order of God's pre-temporal decrees 2) 1905 Conclusion of Utrecht, both are acceptable 3) Infralapsarianism: a) Create man, permit the fall; elect some; provide salvation for elect in Christ. 4) Supralapsarianism: a) Decreed salvation/damnation for His own glory; to create, to permit the fall; to provide salvation for the elect.

Critique of Evolutionism

1) Contradicts Scripture; is naturalism 2) Assumes uniformitarianism; man is just another animal 3) Can't be reproduced (think Behe)

Framework Hypothesis

1) Days a literary device that reveals God as Creator and Sovereign 2) Days not chronologically successive. 3) Days serve as topics of God's creative work (thus framework)

Man

1) Dichotomy not Trichotomy (soul and spirit are interchangeable) a) 1 Thess. 5:23 (spirit, soul, and body...) 2) 1 Thess. 5:23 do not teach that man consists of three parts, just as Mark 12:30 does not teach that man is made of four parts: heart, mind, soul, and strength

Language of All, Every, World

1) Distributive - without exception (no) 2) Categorical - without distinction (yes)

Names for God

1) Elohim: God of creation (Gen 1:1ff) 2) Yahweh: Covenant God of Israel (Ex 3:13ff) 3) Yahweh Sabbaoth: LORD of Hosts (Mal 1:4) 4) El Shaddai: God Almighty (Gen. 17:1) 5) Adonai: Lord, owner and ruler of men (Ps. 8:2) 6) Theos: Elohim, El Shadah, God (Luke 1:46) 7) Kurios: Lord, Yahweh (Luke 1:46) 8) Pater: Father (1 Cor. 8:6)

Modes of Revelation

1) External Manifestation (Theophany) 2) Internal Suggestion (Prophecy) 3) Concursive Operation (Inspiration) 4) Incarnation a) All modes of revelation converge in Christ Jesus (Heb. 1:1-4). The diversity of modes produce a unitary revelation of God to man

Predestination

1) Fundamentally a doctrine of grace 2) Problems with predestination are more often problems with anthropology 3) Election and Reprobation are Equally Ultimate: a) Both depend on God's will, nothing the creature does (though human decision is not denied, it depends on God's action). Man also remains guilty. 4) Sovereign and Merciful Election a) The eternal decree of God in which He, by His free good pleasure, has chosen certain men in Christ to receive His special grace unto salvation. b) Inseparably linked to God's call is our election in Christ. After all, the message of the gospel is Christ. In Him we discover God's fatherly mercy and kindly heart. Eph 1.4 makes it clear that the elect are not chosen in themselves, but in Him. c) Eph 1; Rom. 9:13; BC Art. 16; CD I.7 5) Sovereign and Just Reprobation: a) The eternal decree of God in which He, by His free good pleasure, has determined to pass by giving saving special grace to certain men and justly condemn them for their sins. b) Election is meaningless without reprobation. Election could not stand except as set over against reprobation. c) Reprobation, according to Calvin, is not merely a passive act of God. d) Rom 9:13; BC Art. 16; CD 1.15

Biblical Basis for the Humanity of Christ

1) He had a human body (thirsted, died), a human mind (learned, grew in wisdom), a human soul and emotions (weeps and marvels) a) John 1:14 (the Word became flesh) b) Hebrews 2:17 (made like His brothers in all things) c) Luke 2:52 (Jesus grew in wisdom and favor) 2) Even after the resurrection, Jesus demonstrates that he has flesh and blood.

Nature or Character of Sin

1) If transgression is the very character of sin, it cannot lie in the nature or essence of things, for things owe their essence and existence to God alone. Therefore evil can only come after the good a) Thus all good gifts given to man are corrupted b) Sin is not merely a lack or a want. It is an absence of something; it is also a defect. c) Sin is not substance itself, but that sort of disturbance of all the gifts and energies given to man which makes them work not towards God but away from Him. d) Sin has come into the world as an alien - it does not belong. As an alien, it can also be removed by the power of God's grace.

Social Trinitarianism

1) It appears that the Trinity is more divine than the Persons - there is a degradation of divinity, since the Trinity alone is, properly speaking, God. It seems that the Trinity is more divine than the Persons individually, for we have at least two instance or exemplifications of divinity in Social Trinitarianism: first of the Persons, then of the Trinity 2) If the instances of divinity are equal, then the generic divine essence (that each Person has) seems to be a fourth instance of deity. If the essence is not a case of deity and is still divine, then there are two ways to be divine: one way is to be a case of deity; the other is by being a Trinity of such cases. 3) It appears that the Father is greater than the Son and the Holy Spirit 4) Struggles with issue of God's unity - and so it has a mild aroma tritheism. If the divine essence is an abstract thing, then it's difficult to see how this is a sufficient condition for affirming only one God

The Abrogation of the Covenant of Works

1) It is not abrogated: a) Man always owes God perfect obedience b) Its curse and punishment still pertain to those who continue in sin c) The conditional promise still holds though no one can comply with the condition 2) It is abrogated: a) The obligations were met by our Mediator b) As a means to obtain eternal life - it is powerless after the fall of man

Common Grace

1) Matthew 5:45 "For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." 2) God's common benevolence towards the world, including sinful men, which... falls short of salvation; restrains sin and sinner; serves the purposes of redemption 3) Calvin a) Divine grace can be stretched beyond narrow range of salvation b) Grace remains free gift of divine mercy (saving or non-saving) c) Virtues in the unregenerate fruit of a general grace of God d) Providence puts common grace into action 4) 1924 CRC adopted 3 points: a) God gives grace to creatures in general (divine love for all) Psalm 145:9 (LORD is good to all) b) God restrains sin Rom. 1:24 (God gives up to greater sin) c) Unbelievers can do civic good (virtue in unbelievers) Luke 6:33 (even sinners do good)

RC distinction between Mortal Sin & Venial Sin

1) Mortal sin: committed with full intention/consent resulting in damnation and eternal death 2) Venial sin: merely weaknesses (but still must repent or hell)

Gap theory

1) Much time elapsed between Gen. 1:1 and 1:2 (ruination occurred) 2) Verse 2 begins narrative of re-creation

The Threefold Office of Christ

1) Office includes appointment and empowerment 2) HC Q&A 31/LD 12 3) Prophet: a) Revealed the Father; His will; the future; and taught with authority b) John 15:15 (what I received from the Father I made known) 4) Priest: a) Our sacrifice, our intercessor, daily blesses us b) Hebrews 5:1-10 (priest after Melchizedek) 5) King: a) Governs us, inaugurates the Kingdom of God, rules over all things b) Luke 1:32-33 (the LORD will give him the throne of David) 6) Office is always superpersonal, it comes from above and can never be explained in the person, no matter how talented he may be 7) Christ is the Anointed One 8) Emphasizes his role as our substitute/representative - Mediator between God and man 9) Triple office extends over his entire history

Biblical Basis for the Trinity

1) Oneness: Deut. 6:4 (LORD is One) 2) Plurality: Gen. 1, Angel of the Lord 3) Matthew 3: all Three Persons present at Jesus' baptism. 4) Matthew 28:16-20: "Name" (singular) but Three 5) 2 Cor. 13:14: triune apostolic benediction 6) Jesus and HS spoken of as God and have divine attributes 7) BC Art. 8,9; LD 8

Distinction between Christ's Person and Work

1) Our confessions do this a) LD 5, BC Art.17-19 (person), Art. 20-23 & 26 (work) b) Hebrews starts with the person of Christ and moves to his work. 2) Objections a) Leads to an abstract and speculative treatment of the two natures b) Appeal made to Melancthon against the vain and fruitless speculations of Scholastic theology Scriptural revelation demands this distinction without separation Matt. 13:54-57 (Jesus in Nazareth - is this carpenter's son?) Phil. 2 (took on flesh, became obedient) Rom. 8 (by sending His Son he condemned sin) John 3:16 (sent His Son, so that whoever believes...)

Trinity Language

1) Ousia = essence; substance. Refers to what makes a man a man, or what makes God, God; thus, when it is applied to God it refers to his divinity, the Godness of God—that is, what He is. 2) Essentia = essence. The Latin equivalent of the Greek ousia. Refers to the whatness of a being; i.e., what makes a being precisely what it is. 3) Substantia = substance. That which exists as a concrete reality as distinct from essentia, which indicates simply what a thing is. Although the term can have this idea of a genus, it more specifically refers to a concrete reality or that which exists. 4) Homoousios = of the same substance; consubstantial. Signifies the numerical unity of essence in the three divine persons, and came to argue a numerical unity of indivisible divine essence in which the three divine persons subsist and which is fully present in each of the persons. Thus homoousios indicates the fullness of the indivisible ousia or substance of the Godhead in each of the divine persons and implies the essential coinherence of the three persons. 5) Homoiousios = of like substance. Term used by a mediating party, though anti-Arian. 6) Heteroousios = of a different essence or substance. Arian term used to assert that the Son is of a different essence than the Father. 7) Anomoios = unlike. Term used by extreme Arians; essence of the Father is utterly unlike that of the Son. 8) Hypostasi = a particular being; a mode or manner of being. Greek term equivalent to the Latin subsistentia. 9) Subsistentia = subsistence, subsistent. Term indicating a particular being or existent; an individual instance of a given essence. This is the Latin equivalent of the Greek hypostasis. Superior to persona. 10) Modus subsistendi = mode of subsistence. Synonym for subsistentia. 11) Persona = person. Latin term which had more philosophical significance than its Greek equivalent prosōpon, where its meaning was limited to playing a role, or wearing a mask. In Latin, persona, could mean a distinct individual, an agent of activity or will. 12) Prosōpon = person. Less technical term than hypostasis or subsistentia, which are other, more technical, terms used to refer to the persons of the Trinity. Prosōpon could also mean ―mask‖ or ―face.‖ 13) Suppositum = supposit; a self-existent or self-subsistent thing. 14) Perichōrēsis = see circumincessio. 15) Circumincessio = circumincession or coinherence (interpenetration). A synonym of the Greek perichōrēsis, referring primarily to the coinherence of the persons of the Trinity in the divine essence and in each other.

Imputation of Sin

1) Romans 5:12-21 (federal headship) 2) 1 Cor. 15:22 (in Adam all die) 3) Scripture treats humankind as a whole, a solidarity, for humanity does not consist of an aggregate of individual souls but is one body with many members, one kingdom with many citizens. 4) Realism: a) No strict imputation of Adam's guilt, human nature constitutes not only generically but numerically a single unit or entity b) All person's actually sinned in Adam before they were born, not Adam's guilt, our own guilt 5) Federalism Theory of Immediate Imputation: (Unmediated) a) Immediate because it is not contingent upon the corruption of individual human beings b) Adam is covenantal head of humanity, and in his disobedience he brought the sanctions of covenant upon all his progeny c) God imputes Adam's disobedience and guilt to all those whom he represents (like Christ's righteousness imputed to us) 6) Mediate imputation: a) Divine attribution of sinfulness to humankind (Adam's guilt) because of the inherited corruption of all people

Theology as a Science

1) Science is knowledge systematically organized and rigorously pursued, according to a prescribed method a) No empiricism or neutrality 2) Theology is perspectival to other sciences, giving them direction.

Analogy of Faith

1) Scripture is a unity thus Scripture interprets Scripture a) The unclear is explained/understood by the clear b) Doctrine is based on a variety of texts, in context of the whole.

Progressive Creationism

1) Takes the days to be ages. a) But: evening and morning, chronological succession

Providence

1) That continued exercise of the divine power whereby the Creator preserves all His creatures, is operative in all that comes to pass in the world, and directs all things to their appointed end 2) Continued preservation and governance of creation (BC Art. 13; LD 10) a) Preservation: all things persist and continue Gen. 8:22 (...summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease) b) Government: creation directed to appointed end Prov. 16:9 (man plans, God establishes) General: God governs all things in a like manner o Laws, instinct, necessary obedience Special: God governs reasonable or rational creatures in a special manner, brings in moral government idea (God's commands) c) Concurrence: besides giving secondary causes strength and existence, He directs them to their appointed end Acts 14:17 (satisfied your hearts with food)

Revelation

1) The act of God communicating the truth about Himself in relation to us; results of this activity. a) Hebrews 1:1,2 (at many times and in many ways God spoke...)

Unpardonable sin

1) The blasphemy of the Holy Spirit occurs when one knowingly, unambiguously, intentionally, and permanently rejects the Holy Spirit's testimony to Jesus. a) Matthew 12:31-31; Mark 3:28-29; Luke 12:10 b) The blasphemy of the Spirit might be regarded as the by-product of rejecting the Son of Man. The difference between blaspheming the Son of Man and blaspheming the Spirit is that blasphemy of the Son of Man is an instant rejection, while blasphemy of the Spirit is a permanent rejection....Once the Spirit's testimony about God's work through Jesus is permanently refused, then nothing can be forgiven, since God's plan has been rejected.

Dogma

1) The church's official summary of Scripture's teaching, as set forth in its creeds and confessions. Its relationship to the church is also one of service: to assist, to contribute to that which belongs to the church, and to reform and enrich the church's ministry. 2) Dogma in its conception and development is the fruit of the Church's reflection on Scripture in the face of heresy.

God's Decree

1) The decrees of God are His eternal purpose, according to the counsel of His will, whereby for His own glory He hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass. It is immutable, free, and efficacious.

Regnum Potentiae

1) The dominion of Jesus Christ over the universe, and His providential and judicial administration of all things in the interest of the Church 2) He guides everything providentially for the growth, gradual purification, and final perfection of the people He has redeemed 3) He protects His own against the dangers of the world and vindicates His righteousness by the subjection and destruction of all His enemies 4) In this kingship we find the initial restoration of the original kingship of man 5) It is subservient to His spiritual kingship (the regnum gratiae) 6) This kingship endures until the victory over the enemy is complete and even death is abolished (1 Cor. 15:24-28)

Pactum Salutis/Covenant of Redemption

1) The eternal or pretemporal intratrinitarian agreement of the Father and the Son concerning the covenant of grace and its ratification in and through the work of the Son incarnate 2) Christ is our Guarantor our Surety. The Son covenants with the Father concerning the Covenant of Grace and its ratification in and through the work of the Son Incarnate a) Luke 22:29 (I assign to you as my Father assigned to me) b) Zechariah 6:13 (counsel of peace between them both)

Natural Theology

1) The idea that we can get true knowledge of God based on creation through reason alone. a) Impossible because of noetic effects of sin

Approaches to Theology and Science

1) Theology in Continuity with Science a) Theology accommodates itself to Science 2) Science in Continuity with Theology a) Science accommodates itself to Theology. Creation Scientists stress the supernatural intervention in the origin of all things and propose scientific explanations for the universe that are compatible with their interpretation of biblical revelation. Basically, the Bible is a book of scientific merit, both pursuing science from the starting point and framework of divine revelation and their (literal) interpretation of it, and defending the Bible via scientific conclusions. 3) Theology and Science as Separate Realms a) Barthian view: God's act of creation eludes any attempt at straightforward description: we cannot capture the origin of history in historiographical terms. Science can only observe phenomena that are "out there"; only theology can explain why it is "out there." 4) Mutual Interaction between Theology and Science a) All truth is God's truth. Since truth is essentially one, valid theology and valid science will not contradict one another. That is not to say that all truth is available to us through Science or Theology. But the Bible is the basis of all things.

Creeds/Confessions

1) They are the church's responses to the Word of God, a repetitio Sacra Scripturae (echo of the speech of the Scriptures) a) They have real authority though relative in relation to Scripture b) Creeds - statements of belief coming out of the ancient church which all branches of Trinitarian Christianity accept an which generally focus on the most fundamental elements of the Christian confession c) Confessions - provide further definition in light of controversies and as such are fuller, more expansive, statements of what is elementary in the creeds but as a result are not fully ecumenical since not all branches of Christianity accept them 2) Six Uses: Declarative, Defensive, Educative, Unitive, Liturgical, Juridical

Incommunicable Properties of the Three Persons

1) They distinguish between the three persons 2) Father: generation/paternity - not begotten, eternally begets the Son and spirates the Holy Spirit 3) Son: filiation/sonship - eternally begotten of the Father, shares with the Father in the spiration of the Holy Spirit 4) Holy Spirit: spiration - eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son

Necessity of the Atonement

1) This question was codified by Anselm in his classic work, Cur Deus Homo? 2) Basically five representative answers to this question: a) Christ's death was not atonement, and it was not necessary Socinians, Liberals, neo-liberals b) Christ's death was atonement, but it was not necessary Nominalists, Duns Scotus, Grotius, Arminius c) Christ's death was atonement, and it was hypothetically necessary Augustine, Aquinas, Goodwin d) Christ's death was atonement, and it was absolutely necessary Irenaeus, Anselm e) Christ's death was atonement and was absolutely necessary in consequence of God's decree to save men from sin (consequent absolute necessity) Reformed view Heb. 9:22 (without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness) Heb. 2:10 (it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist...should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.)

Origin of the Human Soul

1) Traducianism: Soul and body originate by natural propagation. 2) Creationism: New soul created at birth (conception) a) We are created by God yet born of human descent

Language for God

1) Univocal: A term has the same meaning in both instances (a=b ) a) Example: Granite is a rock, literally 2) Equivocal: A term is used differently (a does not = b) a) Example: God is a rock but not a literal rock 3) Analogical: Similarity with a difference (a is like b) a) God is like a rock

God's Will

1) Will of decree: the ultimate, effectual, and unsearchable will of God which underlies the revealed will of God a) AKA Secret will: the hidden or unrevealed will of God b) God's will to effect: God actively causes good things to happen. c) God's will to permit: God actively allows evil things to happen. 2) Will of precept: His plan for humankind given in both the law and the gospel a) Revealed will: the purposes of God that have been revealed 3) Deut. 29:29 (The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever)

Is God Knowable?

1) Yes, because of His self-revelation. Such revelation is accommodated to our level. It is practical involving the whole person. a) Heb 1:1ff (God spoke...) 2) Incomprehensibility: Reformed theology holds that God can be known, but that it is impossible for man to have knowledge of Him that is exhaustive and perfect in every way. a) Heb. 1:1ff (God spoke...) b) Job 36:26 (God is great, we know him not...) c) John 17:3 (that they may know you...) d) BC Art. 2 3) We don't speak univocally or equivocally, we speak analogically: a) Attributively: e.g. land is healthy because the people are b) Proportionally: e.g. God's loving proportionate to His infinity 4) Our knowledge of God does not allow us to truly define God; rather, we can only describe Him

Image of God

1. Functional: A summons to fulfill a particular calling as God's servants. Constituted by sonship/royal dominion, representation, glory, and prophetic witness. Prophet, priest and king. 2. Substantival: Good, in His own image, in true righteousness & holiness (HC 3:6). 3. Broad: all men have some remains of the imago dei, BCF 14 "small traces" remain; CoD III/IV.4: "certain light of nature" remains 4. Narrow: only believers are conformed to Christ (righteousness/knowledge/holiness), HC 86: Christ by his Spirit is renewing us to be like himself

Functional Inerrancy

A view that says that the Scriptures unfailingly and invariably function to communicate the message it was designed to communicate to the church. It means the message of every passage of Scripture is what matters when it comes to the function of Scripture in communicating God's word. Articulated by Douglas Farrow to be a counter to those who argue for an exhaustive inerrancy and a solution for those who want to hold on to the term "inerrant"

Unlimited Atonement/Arminianism

Atonement for all men, but only effective for those who believe.

Inerrancy

Biblical texts are unfailingly and invariably true in all they teach and affirm about which they speak. Scripture does not err.

Relationship between Covenant of Works and of Grace

CoW - Law must be followed CoG - Law is grateful response for salvation in Christ "The doctrine of the covenant of grace stands or falls on the doctrine of the covenant of works" (Bavinck)

Communicatio Idiomata

Communication of the Properties "Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation." (Chalcedon 451)

Prolegomena

Defines the issues of theological encyclopedia from the presupposition of faith.

Communicable Attributes

Emphasize immanence; have some analogy in man, typical categories are: Intellectual, Moral, and Attributes of Sovereignty

Monophysitism

Eutyches a) Christ has one fused nature and is one person b) Condemned at Chalcedon (451) and Constantinople II (553)

Prerogatives of deity

Forgives sins; teaches with authority, etc.

God's Being and Attributes

From the simplicity of God (He is not composed of parts) it follows that God and His attributes are one. God is His nature. Yet though God's essence and properties are one, they are distinguishable.

Mechanic Inspiration

God dictated Scripture and the human writers had a passive role as mere secretaries or channels through which the words of the Holy Spirit flowed. It implies that the writers mental state was in repose and in no way contributed to the content or form of the writing so that the style of Scripture is the of the Holy Spirit.

Ontological Trinity

God in Himself, apart from relationship with creation, as eternally the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; the immanent & eternal relations between the Three Persons including: generation, filiation, spiration. The Father begets, the Son is begotten, the Spirit proceeds from Both.

God's Free Knowledge

God's knowledge of all thing's actual (past, present, future)

Total Inability

HC: unable to do any saving good and inclined toward all evil by nature BCF 14: "man is nothing but the slave of sin" HC 8: "we are totally unable to do any good and inclined toward all evil" CoD III.IV.1,3: people are "neither willing nor able to return to God"

Incommunicable Attributes

Have little or no analogy in man the creature and emphasize God's transcendence. Independence/Aseity Infinity Immutability Unity

God's Necessary Knowledge

He knows Himself and all things possible

Economic Trinity

How the persons of the Trinity interrelate in relationship with creatures.

Christ's States of Humiliation

Humiliation: representatively guilty, under the law a) Gal. 4:4; LD 14-16 b) Virgin Birth Incarnation, assumed the likeness of sinful flesh Luke 1:35 (the power of the Most High will overshadow you) c) Suffering Innocent representing the guilty Is. 53:4 (smitten by God and afflicted) d) Crucified/dead Sign of the curse. Shows the justice and wrath of God Phil. 2:8 (obedient unto death, even death on a cross) e) Buried Like the burial of the old man Luke 23:53 (laid him in a tomb cut in stone) f) Descended into Hell (LD 16) Hell = grave; OR Hell = hellish agony and forsakenness of the cross 1 Peter 3:18,19 is about Noah preaching before the flood to spirits who are now in prison.

Verbal Inspiration

Inspiration extends to the very words by which the thoughts of God's revelation are expressed.

Plenary Inspiration

Inspiration extends to the whole or entire Scripture, not just to its parts.

Dynamic Inspiration

It reduces inspiration to an aesthetic level and conceives of the Biblical writers as inspired only to the extent that any human author is inspired to write poetry or a novel. Inspiration comes as a thought in the mind that compels the author to act and write.

Hypothetical Universalism/Amyraldianism

Jesus died for all, but only the elect have faith.

Aspects of the Atonement

Obedience, Sacrifice, Propitiation, Reconciliation, Redemption from Sin, Victory over Satin/sin/death

God's special decree

Regards salvation and predestination: Predestination, rightly understood, does not violate human free agency, for to predestinate voluntary action is to make it certain

Biblical Theology

Studies the original text, exegesis, environment, history of redemption (a line). The exhibition of the organic progress of supernatural revelation in its historic continuity and multiformity.

Dogmatics/ST

Summarizes the teaching of Scripture on various topics in a systematic way (a circle). Loci: Theology, Anthropology, Christology, Soteriology/ Pneumatology, Ecclesiology, Eschatology.

Inscripturation

The Bible is a 'digest' of what has been revealed; made up of the two components of written and oral tradition. We have all we need of God's plan of redemption in Scripture, it is all-sufficient.

God's general decree

The decree of creation and providence

Loci Method

The method of organizing or distributing the subject-matter of Sytematic Theology according to disciplines or loci. Each of these disciplines inescapably directs to the other - they are organically connected. This method is Trinitarian at its best, and it is historical (following Creation, Fall, Redemption, Consummation) Consists of: Theology; Anthropology; Christology; Pneumatology/ Soteriology; Ecclesiology; Eschatology

Theological Encyclopedia

The relationship between theology and the other sciences, and the relationships between the different departments of theology. Biblical, Historical, Systematic, Practical (or BEDM)

Hypostatic Union

The two natures were joined together perfectly in one person, Jesus Christ.

Total Depravity

The whole person (heart/soul/mind) is corrupt Man's "entire nature" is corrupt (BCF 14) HC 5 "I have a natural tendency to hate God and my neighbor" CoD III/IV.1,3: all people are inclined to evil, dead in sin, etc.

Canonical Criteria

There are no "notes of canonicity", no criteria to use in establishing canon. The criteria used in the history of the church have been apostolicity, antiquity, public lection & inspiration. Although helpful, the Holy Spirit witnesses the canonicity of scripture in our faith.

Prooftexting

There is a difficult question with regards to prooftexting and Scripture because Scripture is used in different ways in the various disciplines in Theological Science. However, the dogmatical use of the text must always be disciplined by the requirements of grammatical-historical exegesis and the awareness of the danger of superimposing a system upon the text.

Canon

What is meant by "Canon of Scripture" is that which is a collection or list of writings recognized as inspired and authoritative for the faith and practice of the church. The canon establishes the Church; the Church does not establish the canon (the church is reflexive not constitutive)

Victory over Satan/sin/death

a) 1 John 3:8 (Son of God appeared to destroy the works of Satan) b) John 16:33 (I have overcome the world) c) 1 Cor. 15:57 (God gives us the victory through our Lord)

Ebionitism

a) 2nd century/Jewish tendencies. b) Rejected deity, Jesus man qualified by HS to be Messiah

Atonement Theory: Moral Influence

a) Abelard: Christ came to morally influence us to love God. (like example/Socinians)

Obedience

a) Active and passive - though passively active b) Phil. 2:5 c) Gal. 4:4

Chalcedon 451

a) Affirmed that Jesus is one person with two natures. Each nature is preserved without confusion, change, separation, division.

Nicea 325

a) Affirmed the fullness of Christ's deity b) Homoousios of Christ and the Father

Constantinople 381

a) Affirmed the fullness of Christ's humanity against Apollinarius b) Christ homoousios with man c) Holy Spirit homoousios with the Father and the Son

Pantheism

a) All is God, God is all b) Cosmos and God are identical

Atonement Theory: Satisfaction of God's honor

a) Anselm: Jesus satisfied God's honor violated by sin, for our forgiveness

Apollinarius

a) Christ assumed the soma and psyche but the pneuma (rational soul) was the logos b) Condemned at Constantinople (381)

Atonement Theory: Exchange/Barth

a) Christ bridges the gulf between infinite and finite. b) As he goes down, we go up.

Monothelitism

a) Christ had only one will, not a divine and a human will. b) Condemned at Constantinople III (680)

Nestorianism

a) Christ has two natures and two persons, divine and human. b) Mary not mother of God c) Condemned at Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451)

Communicatio Idiomata Lutheran View

a) Concerned with Christ's real presence in the Lord's Supper (ubiquity) b) This involves a mixtio of the properties, not a confusio c) The divine attributes are communicated to the human, any denial is Nestorian d) Gradual interpenetration of the divine (fire) into the human (iron) Later Lutherans spoke of it as immediate interpenetration a) This virtually destroys the incarnation (Berkhof)

Constantinople II 553

a) Condemns monophysitism

Sacrifice

a) Expiation of guilt and purging of sin b) Heb. 9:26 (put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself)

Open Theism

a) Free will theism; the future is all possibilities, no certainty, besides God's own ordained acts b) God's knowledge is mainly of possibilities

Paul of Samosata and Modalistic Monarchianism

a) God essentially one, one Person (unity is basic) b) Logos and Holy Spirit are not distinct persons but attributes of God c) Jesus Christ is "adopted" as the Son of God, Logos dwells in him like a temple

Deism

a) God exists but there is no real revealed religion b) God sets the clock and it runs on its own

Sabellius

a) God is essentially one (Unitarian) b) Trinity is economic, not essentially c) Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not persons but modes of manifestation d) First mode is Father in creation and law-giving, second is Son in incarnation, third is Holy Spirit in regeneration and sanctification e) Also known as Patripassianism

Panentheism

a) God is immanent in creation and is the animating force b) God is always becoming c) God and cosmos are not identical

Liberation

a) God is the God of the poor b) God is seen dialectically in suffering

Moral Perfections

a) Goodness: deals bountifully and kindly with all His creatures Grace: unmerited goodness o Eph 1:2 (God's greetings of ―grace, mercy...‖) Mercy: goodness toward miserable man o Matt 9:36 (Jesus had compassion) Lovingkindness: special favor to His people o Gen. 39:21 (showed Joseph ―steadfast love‖) Patience/Longsuffering: postponing judgment o Ex. 34:6 (slow to anger...) Love - John 3:16 b) Holiness Transcendant greatness - Gen 1:1ff Seperateness - 1 Pet 1:15ff (He who called you is holy) o Expressed in worship of the creature and in his goal of salvation in sanctification c) Righteousness - Ps 119:137 (righteous are You) Absolute, Rectoral, Distributive (Remunerative and Retributive)

Sinlessness of Christ

a) Hebrews 4:15 (tempted yet without sin) b) 1 Peter 2:22 (he committed no sin)

Characteristics of God's Decree

a) His glory is the Ultimate Aim -the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever b) Decrees are Reducible to one Purpose - we ought to speak only of one decree, which God determined, not successively, but as one all-comprehending plan. c) Decrees are Eternal - He cannot be supposed to have at one time plans or purposes, which He did not have at another time. He sees the end from the beginning. d) Decrees are Immutable - change of purpose arises from either want of wisdom or want of power. God is infinite in both, so there can be no variableness, no shadow of turning (James 1:17) - they are now what they were at the beginning of time, and they are the same in every part of the universe. e) Decrees are Free - they are free because God is f) Decrees are Certainly Efficacious - they render certain the occurrence of what He decrees. Whatever God foreordains must come to pass. g) Decrees Relate to Other Events - some events are necessary, that is, are brought about by the action of necessary causes; others are contingent or free, or are acts of free agents; some are morally good, others are sinful.

Atonement Theory: Recapitulation

a) Irenaeus (b. ca. 140-160): Christ recapitulated stages of human life, obeying for us

Adoptionism

a) Jesus becomes divine because He is indwelt by a divine power b) Dynamic monarchianism

Direct Statements the Deity of Christ

a) John 1:1 (in the beginning was the Word) b) John 20:28 (My Lord and my God!) c) Heb. 1:8 (of the Son he says, "Your throne oh God is forever") d) Col. 2:9 (In him all the fullness of deity dwells)

I AM Passages

a) John 8:12 (I AM the light of the world) b) John 8:58 (Before Abraham was I AM) c) John 10:7 (I AM the door) d) John 10:11 (I AM the Good Shepherd) e) John 14:6 (I AM the way, the truth, and the life)

Names for Christ

a) Lord (Heb. 1:10) b) Son of God (John 5:18) c) Son of Man (Daniel 7) d) Emmanuel (Matthew 1)

Types of Providence

a) Mediate: He provides for things through the use of secondary means b) Immediate: God is himself the absolute and sole cause of providing for things c) Ordinary: that by which He observes or makes use of the order of things He appointed from the beginning d) Extraordinary: that by which He provides for things beyond the usual and appointed order (or law) of things and this is what is called "miracle."

Intellectual Perfections

a) Omniscience - Job 37:16 (perfect in knowledge) b) Wisdom - Rom 11:33 (depths of wisdom of God) c) Veracity - John 14:6 (I am the way, the truth...)

Atonement Theory: Ransom-to-Satan

a) Origen: Christ paid the debt due to Satan, who thought he won but was deceived.

Atonement Theory: Satisfaction of God's justice

a) Reformers: Jesus satisfied God's justice Grotius: governmental idea o Rejected idea of retributive justice in favor of rectoral justice

Ephesus 431

a) Rejected Nestorianism b) Hypostatic union affirmed c) Formal approval of theotokos

Constantinople III 680

a) Rejected monothelitism, Christ had both divine and human will b) There is still a moral unity of the wills

Redemption from sin

a) Release from bondage, ransom given b) Eph. 1:7 (in Him we have redemption...)

Propitiation

a) Removal of wrath b) Rom. 3:25 (whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood) c) Rom. 5:9 (saved from the wrath of God)

Reconciliation

a) Removes alienation; restoration of peace b) Both objective (man to God) and subjective (God to man) c) Rom. 5:10 (reconciled to God by the death of His Son)

Semi-Arianism

a) Said "homoiousios" - divine but not equal b) Condemned at Nicea (325)

Atonement Theory: Example or Mystical Influence

a) Schleiermacher, Kant, Ritschl.

Communicatio Idiomata Reformed View

a) Seeks to uphold Chalcedon without "monophysitic" tendency of Lutherans b) Two natures must be distinguished as to their properties and the communication of properties takes place in respect to Christ's person (in concreto); not from nature to nature (in abstracto) c) Due to the hypostatic union of the Son of God with our human nature, we may properly speak of Christ's person as partaking or sharing in the properties of deity and humanity d) We may say God died, and Jesus is omnipresent (WCF VIII.7) e) The person of Christ is the unity in respect to which we may really ascribe properties of both natures to the one Christ

Perfections of Sovereignty

a) Sovereign Will: self determination Rom. 9:15 (I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy...) b) Sovereign Power: He can do what He wills Jer. 32:17 (nothing too hard for you)

Arianism

a) The Son was created, had a beginning b) Condemned at Nicea (325)

Docetism

a) The humanity was apparent, not real or genuine b) Union between God and physical impossible

Anhypostasis

a) The impersonal human nature of Christ; Son of God assumes our human nature, but not a human person b) Must be correlated and complemented by enhypostasis

Enhypostasis

a) The inpersonal human nature of Christ; person of the Mediator is given by virtue of the person of the Son b) Complements anhypostasis

Impeccability of Christ

a) Was He able to sin? No - the divine nature is impeccable. b) Temptation can still be real, because there does not need to be vulnerability in order to be a real testing.

Covenant of Grace

o The CoG began after the fall: made with Christ and God's people (cf. HC 19, 74, 82, etc) o The covenant of grace was a covenant of works for Christ; the covenant of grace is the outcome, the benefit of Christ's active and passive obedience o It is the means and the end, the way to fellowship and the fellowship between the church and Christ o The promises of the CoG are temporal and eternal o The requirements of the CoG are not meritorious; faith can be considered a condition as long as it is clear that faith is a gift of God (Turretin uses his helpful note of "we distinguish" between faith as a condition and not as a condition) o The CoG is gracious, Trinitarian, eternal, unchangeable, particular, and similar in content but not necessarily form (Abrahamic and Mosaic, for example) ! Unity: people, purpose, and promise o Conditional and unconditional: it is conditional on Jesus' work and in a non-meritorious way upon our faith; it is unconditional because the works aspect is not binding on believers o Christ is the mediator of the CoG: the Lord/head and Servant/worker o Membership in the CoG ! Adults: faith/confession ! Infants: by birth/baptism (HC 74, BCF 34) • OT/NT continuity: children are members of the covenant • "Baptism does for our children what circumcision did for the Jewish people (BCF 34) • CoD I.17: Children of believers are holy by virtue of the gracious covenant they're in ! Others: an external/internal distinction is OK • Not all who are baptized and set apart are saved, yet they enjoy some temporal blessings of the CoG (like OT Israel in many ways) o Different forms or dispensations of the CoG ! Gen 3:15, Noah (covenant of common grace), Abrahamic (families included - also not circumcision), Moses (grace the foundational aspect, works the typological/pedagogical, a temporary geopolitical theocracy), NT (New Covenant: all nations) ! Note that the Mosaic covenant was an administration of the covenant of grace with an embedded works principle (republication of the CoW) • Foundational: salvation by grace through faith etc. • Typological/temporal/pedagogical: works - stay in the land or get kicked out

Christ's States of Exultation

representatively righteous a) LD 17-19 b) Resurrection Overcome death, we also have a new life, and a guarantee of our resurrection Matt. 28; Mark 16 c) Ascension He pleads our cause, our own flesh in heaven, and the Spirit sent as a guarantee Luke 24, Acts 1 d) Session Rules over universe in glory, pours out His gifts, defends and keeps us safe Col. 3:1 (Christ seated at the right hand of God) e) Second Coming Final fulfillment of all things, take me into joy and glory of heaven 2 Cor. 5:10 (we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ)